diff --git a/src/sunstone/sunstone-server.rb b/src/sunstone/sunstone-server.rb
index 9c7c8417e0..eeb246fbfc 100755
--- a/src/sunstone/sunstone-server.rb
+++ b/src/sunstone/sunstone-server.rb
@@ -152,6 +152,19 @@ if (no_proxy = $conf[:no_proxy])
     ENV['NO_PROXY'] = no_proxy
 end
 
+if ENV["APP_ENV"] && 
+    !ENV["APP_ENV"].empty? && 
+    %w{production development test}.include?(ENV["APP_ENV"])
+    set :environment, ENV["APP_ENV"].to_sym
+else
+    case $conf[:env]
+    when "dev"
+        set :environment, :development
+    else
+        set :environment, :production
+    end
+end
+
 case $conf[:sessions]
 when 'memory', nil
     use Rack::Session::Pool, :key => 'sunstone'